1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and, more particularly, to a washing machine wherein the structure of a door to open and close a laundry inlet hole formed at the upper part of a housing is improved such that the opening and closing of the door are easily accomplished and the door is prevented from interfering with the opening and closing operations of a detergent box disposed at the rear part of the housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine is constructed in a structure in which a water tub and a rotary tub are mounted in a housing forming the appearance of the washing machine, and the rotary tub is connected to a drive motor such that the rotary tub, in which laundry and wash water are contained, is rotated by the drive motor so as to wash the laundry.
The water tub and the rotary tub are formed in the shape of a drum having an open upper part. The housing has a laundry inlet hole formed at the upper part thereof, and the upper part of the housing is open together with the rotary tub such that laundry is put into or removed from the rotary tub through the upper part of the housing. At the laundry inlet hole is mounted a door, which is hingedly coupled to the housing, to open and close the laundry inlet hole.
The door of the washing machine is generally constructed so that two members are hingedly coupled with each other in a folding fashion so as to easily accomplish the opening and closing operations of the door. An example of such a door is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2004-0073768.
The conventional washing machine is constructed so that a door to open and close a laundry inlet hole of a housing is divided into a front door part and a rear door part, which are hingedly coupled with each other, and the rear end of the rear door part is hingedly coupled to the rear part of the housing.
Consequently, when the door is pushed rearward while a grip formed at the front door part is held, the front door part and the rear door part are rotated while the front door part and the rear door part are folded to each other. As a result, the laundry inlet hole is opened. When the grip of the front door part is held and pulled forward, on the other hand, the door is closed. As a result, the laundry inlet hole is closed.
In the conventional washing machine with the above-stated construction, however, the front door part and the rear door part have the same size, and the door is folded and unfolded about the middle part thereof. For this reason, the folding and unfolding actions of the front door part to and from the rear door part are large, and therefore, it is inconvenient to open and close the door.
In addition, the front door part of the conventional washing machine is made of a transparent material such that a user can see the interior of the housing. However, hinge members mounted at the middle part of the door interfere with seeing the interior of the housing, which reduces the see-through efficiency.
Furthermore, since the front and rear door parts of the conventional washing machine have the same size, when the door is opened, and therefore, the front door part and the rear door part are folded to each other, the front door part is placed adjacent to a detergent box disposed at the rear part of the housing. Consequently, it is inconvenient to draw out the detergent box and put detergent into the detergent box.